The most popular skill games including board games and card games like poker and chess have been played for hundreds of years. The game of chess we know today has been around since the 15th century where it became popular in Europe. The game of chess is well known and the rules can be found in nearly every board game rule book, etc. Typically, the game of chess is a board game of strategic skill played between two opponents or players on a checkered board, of 8×8 squares. Each player begins the game with six different pieces (sixteen pieces in all): 1 king, 1 queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights, and 8 pawns.
One of the players controls the white pieces and the other player controls the black pieces. The player who controls the white pieces makes the first move then the players take turns making moves. Pieces are moved to either an unoccupied square or one occupied by an opponent's piece, which is captured and removed from play. When a king is in a square under attack, it is said to be in check. A player may not make any move that would put or leave his or her king in check. A player cannot “pass”; at each turn, they have to make a legal move. The goal of the game is to put the opponent's king under a direct attack from which escape is impossible (i.e., checkmate). Checkmate happens when the king is in a position to be captured (in check) and cannot escape from capture.
In addition to checkmate, the game can be won by voluntary resignation by the opponent, which typically occurs when too many pieces are lost, or if checkmate appears unavoidable. A game may also result in a draw in several ways, where neither player wins, particularly in a stalemate (a draw) if that king is not under attack.
In chess, tactics in general concentrate on short-term actions—so short-term that they can be calculated in advance by a human player or by a computer. The possible depth of calculation depends on the player's ability. In quiet positions with many possibilities on both sides, a deep calculation is more difficult and may not be practical, while in “tactical” positions with a limited number of forced variations, strong players can calculate long sequences of moves. Strategies have been developed over the centuries and chess players often rely on memorization and follow a sequence of moves or repetition of patterns to play the game. Presently, there is a lack of betting options for real money gambling in chess games online primarily due to cheating typically by using software or bots.
Typically, poker is a family of several card games of skill in which a player bets that the value of his or her hand is greater than that of the hands held by others, in which each subsequent player must either equal or raise the bet or drop out, and in which the player holding the highest hand at the end of the betting wins the pot. The game of poker is well known and the rules can be found in nearly every card game rule book. In the game of poker, cards are dealt to each player. Players may have a chance to improve their hand by discarding some of their cards, and receiving replacements, as in draw poker, or more cards may be dealt than needed and the best cards retained, as in the seven-card variations of poker. Other forms like Texas Hold'em and Omaha requires the use of communal “board cards” that are shared by all players.
Various rounds of betting take place after dealing and after drawing. In five-card stud poker, one card is dealt face down and the four remaining cards are dealt face up one at a time with a round of betting after each face up card is dealt. In all variations of poker, when the betting rounds are completed, the remaining players expose their hands and the winning player collects the money bet. The outcome is determined by the combinations of cards in the exposed hands. Those combinations are well known—high card, one pair, two pair, three-of-a-kind, straight, flush, full house, four-of-a-kind, and straight flush—and are described in nearly every card game rule book.
For example, at least some known poker-type game such as, for example, “Texas Hold 'Em” provide each player two cards dealt face down from the common deck, after which five community cards are dealt face up from the common deck. Each player's hand is determined based on two, one or none of the player's dealt cards and three, four or all five of the five community cards. Betting rounds may occur after each player receives the two cards, after the third community card has been dealt (called the “flop”), after the fourth community card has been dealt (the “turn”), and after the fifth community card has been dealt (the “river”). In addition, antes and/or blinds may be required to bet a predefined fixed amount into a “pot” in order to participate in the round and prior to the cards being dealt. Any amount included in the “pot” may be distributed to the player having a winning card hand. During each betting round, each player may decide to remain in the round by placing and/or checking a bet or to leave the round by relinquishing any bets to the “pot” and “folding” their card hand. At the completion of each betting round, each of the remaining player displays the player's two dealt cards in a “showdown”, and the value of each remaining player's hand is determined based on the player's two cards and three of the five community cards to form a five card poker hand, with the poker hands being ranked in standard poker fashion, such as, for example, royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and high card, in descending order. The player having the highest poker hand is the game winner.
One disadvantage of the above-described skill games is that the players may have different skill levels, resulting in an unfair game. For example, identity and level of players are not transparent and there are not handicaps for advanced players. In addition, there is no way to adjust bet amounts and players cannot adjust the length of their turn. This results in an unfair game for the players. Another disadvantage of the above-described skill games is that online cheating is rampant. For example, online cheating by other players in collusion or with the use of or computer programs is common. Further, a computer program may be used to determine the odds of the games in poker, for example, and place large bets, or determine the skill levels of the players and play accordingly, thereby resulting in an unfair game.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a new system and method that adjusts different settings of an online skill game to even the odds and facilitate a fair game. It is also desirable to provide a new system and method that limits the likelihood of online cheating by other players or computer programs. It is further desirable to provide a new system and method that facilitates online betting with a fairer matching of players of different skill levels and which eliminates, or greatly reduces, online cheating by other players or computer programs. Thus, there is a need in the art to provide a new system and method for bet-matching and chance-element for online skill games for two or more players that meet one or more of these desires.
In addition, there is a need in the art for new variations of popular skill games played online between more than one player that use new technology to match players of different skill levels with a system for handicaps relying less on memorization of habit but new variants with unique chance elements making the game more fair for online betting. Specifically, in this invention is a chess variant and poker application where the exemplified principals can be applied to other online skill games for multi-players.